Feeding and folding apparatus



March 31, 1970 H. G. GENTRY FEEDING AND FOLDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed sept. 14, 19e? March 31, 1970 H. G.' @ENTRY 3,503,178

FEEDING AND FOLDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 14. 196'? INVENTOR HERMOND G. @ENTRY 5w@ ATTORNEY March 31, 1970 H. G. GENTRY 3,503,178

FEEDING AND FOLDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 14, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVEMTOR HERA/10N!) G. GENTRY AT TORMEY March 31, 1970 H. G. GENTRY 3,503,178

FEEDING AND FOLDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 14. 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IMVENTO/l MERMOND C3. @ENTRY ATTORNEY United States Patent G 3,503,178 FEEDING AND FOLDING APPARATUS Hermond G. Gentry, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to The Mead Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 667,728 Int. Cl. B65b 21/00 U.S. Cl. 53-48 9 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The mechanisms as disclosed herein are for the purpose of withdrawing a blank from a hopper and for partially folding the blank about one or more objects moving along a predetermined path. The apparatus comprises a reciprocable feeder means arranged to engage a blank disposed in a hopper and to withdraw the blank downwardly to a position above the path of movement of the objects to be packaged. Blank advancing means engages the blank and moves it in the direction of travel of the articles to be packaged and out of the path of movement of the reciprocable feeder so that the feeder is provided with clearance for its return travel whereby a subsequent blank is engaged and fed. Following advancement of the blank by the blank advancing means, blank folding means is operable to engage the blank and to fold it downwardly alongside one or more articles to be packaged, such downward folding being effective to establish an interrelationship between the blank and the article or articles whereby continued movement of the article or articles causes the blank to move therewith.

Feeder mechanisms such as are disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 546,827, tiled May 2, 1966, now Patent No. 3,385,595, and in continuation application Ser. No. 640,756, filed May 23, 1967, now Patent No. 3,386,558, are of the rotary type and constitute feeder elements in the form of suction cups which are manipulated so as to move radially outward and inward relative to the path of rotary movement thereof so as to engage and withdraw a blank from a hopper.

In contrast to the aforementioned rotary mechanism, the arrangements of this invention as applied, for example, to a combination feeder and folder mechanism for use in conjunction with a high speed packaging machine may comprise a reciprocable feeder device engageable with a blank on a side thereof which is adjacent the path of movement of the articles and which is movable through a feeding stroke to withdraw the blank from a hopper and to move the blank to a position adjacent the path of movement of the articles, and blank advancing means engageable with the blank at its position adjacent the path of movement of the articles and operable to advance the blank in the direction of movement of the articles and at the approximate velocity thereof, the 'blank advancing means being in engagement with the blank only for an increment of movement of the blank suicient to move the blank out of the path of return movement of the reciprocable feeder mechanism. Following advancement of the blank by the blank advancing means, blank folding means engages the blank and folds parts of it alongside one or more of the articles to be packaged and establishes a relationship between the blanks and the article or articles whereby continuous movement of the articles causes simultaneous movement of the blank in unison therewith.

In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a side view of a preferred form of the invention; FIG. 2 is a front View as taken from the right side of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a view of a modication of the invention and is taken from the same vantage point as is FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 is a front View ICC taken from the vantage point of the right hand side of FIG. 3.

The numeral 1 denotes a vertically disposed support element constituting a part of the frame of the machine. The numeral 2 denotes a conventional hopper structure mounted on the frame and supported by upright elements 3 and 4 secured to horizontally disposed channel element 5 mounted atop supporting structure generally designated by the numeral 6. Blanks B are mounted in the hopper structure 2 and by means of this invention are individually fed downwardly and toward the right from the hopper 2 for use in forming a tubular open-ended wrapper for packaging primary packages in the form of articles A which are moved from left to right along a predetermined path as indicated by the arrow 7 by means of a conveyor 8.

For the purpose of engaging the lowermost one of the blanks B and for withdrawing such blank out of the hopper 2 and downwardly to occupy the position represented at B1 in FIG. 2, a suction cup 9 is mounted on a tube 10 which is pivotally supported by shaft 11 which in turn is supported in bearings 12 at opposite ends there of. The bearings 12 and 13 are supported by support arms 14 and 15 secured to transverse support elements 16 and 17, element 17 being mounted atop the vertically disposed support pedestal 1.

Air under reduced pressure is supplied to suction cup 9 by conventional pneumatic means not shown in the drawings. While only one suction cup 9 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 it will be understood that FIG. 2 constitutes a view of one-half only of the mechanism of the invention and that preferably two suction cups are in fact employed in the preferred form of the invention.

Thus when suction cups 9 engage the lowermost blank B, a reduced pressure is applied within the suction cup and causes the blank B to move downwardly when the suction cup 9 reciprocates or oscillates in a clockwise direction about the shaft 11.

Reciprocable motion is imparted to suction cup 9 and to its supporting rod 10 by a link 18 pivoted by pin 19a to arm 19 formed integral with shaft 11. Link 18 is pivoted at 20 to a rocker arm 21 having a cam roller 22 thereon and which is oscillatable about pivot 23. Cam roller 22 rides in a cam track 24 formed in rotatable cylindrical cam 25. Cam 25 is rotatable by shaft 26 supported in bearings 27 and 28 which in turn are mounted in vertical support elements 14 and 15. Shaft 26 is r0- tatable by a chain 29 which cooperates with a sprocket 30 mounted on shaft 26 and which is driven by a sprocket 31 mounted on shaft 32 which is supported in bearings 33 and 34 and driven by sprocket 35 and chain 36 from a suitable source of energy such as the main driving means of the associated packaging machine. Thus rotation of shaft 32 imparts rotation to cam 25. By the cam follower 22 and the linkages 18, 21, 19 and 10, reciprocable motion is imparted to suction cups 9 about the shaft 11 as a center from an extreme lower position depicted in FIG. l to a position of contact with the blanks B disposed in hopper 2.

In order to provide clearance for the suction cups 9 to return to the hopper from the position depicted in FIG. 1, is is necessary to advance the blank such as B1 toward the right sufficiently to allow the suction cups 9 to clear the trailing edge of blank B1. To this end, blank advancing means in the form of radially disposed advancing elements 38 and 39 are affixed to and rotatable with the shaft 26. These elements are provided with notched blank engaging portions 40 and 41 respectively which engage the trailing edge of a blank such as B1. Since the advancing elements 38 and 39 rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1, the effect is to shift the blank suchas. B1 toward the right for an increment of travel suficient to allow clearance for suction cups 9 to return to the hopper from the position depicted in FIGS. l and 2 andv to move the blank into transverse alignment with its Vgroup of articles A. By this means, rapid reciprocation of suction cups 9 is made possible according to a principal'feature of this invention.

`Following advancement of the blank by the blank advancing means, the blank is `quickly folded about the sides of the articles A. This folding operation is accomplished by the blank folding means in the form of folding arms 42 and 43 which preferably are integrally formed with the ends of the blank advancing elements 38 and 39 respectively. Folders 42 and 43 simply cause the blanks such as B1 to become interrelated with one or more of the articles A by causing the corner slits of the blank to receive the caps of the articles A in a manner well known in the art. By this means, movement from left to right as indicated by the arrow 7 of the articles A causes the blank such as B1 likewise to move in unison therewith due to the interrelationship therebetween. Thus according to -a feature of the invention, means for continuing the advancement of the blank such as B1 is not necessary, such function being performed by the means for moving the articles A toward the right which may take the form of conveyor 8. Furthermore by combining the feeding and folding functions into a unitary structure such as might take ythe form of closely interelated advancing eiernents 38 and 39 and their associated folding elements 42 and 43, it is possible to construct a machine which is characterized by very high speed of operation and which also is very compact requiring very little iioor space.

f course the blanks subsequently are secured about one or more articles such as A in a manner well known in the art, such portion of a packaging operation being eliminated from this application for the sake of clarity and simplicity.

The modification of the invention as depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4 incorporates a number of parts which are common to the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, the vertically disposed pedestal element 1 supports the hopper 2 together with the supporting elements 3 and 4 and the transversely disposed support structure 5.

The feeder structure of the arrangement of FIGS. 3 and 4 comprises a pair of suction cups 45 only one of which is shown in the drawings and which are mounted on rods 46 which are pivoted on shaft 47. Of course a suitable pneumatic system is provided which is of a conventional nature. Reciprocation of the suction cups 45 is effected by rotatable cam 48 having a cam surface 49 formed therein and in which a cam follower 50 rides. Cam follower 50 is interrelated with a linkage structure 51 which is pivoted at pivot 52 secured to frame element '53. A second link 54 is pivoted at 55 to link 51 and in turn connects through pivot 47 with crank arm 5'6 which is integral with shaft 47. Thus rotation of cam 48 operates the linkage system comprising cam follower 50, links 51, 54 and 56 to impart reciprocatory motion to suction cups 45 and supporting rods 46 about shaft 47 as the center. Cam 48 is rotated -by shaft 58 which is driven by sprocket 59 and chain 60 which in turn is driven by sprocket 61 atiixed to shaft 32. Shaft 58 is jonrnalled in bearings 62 supported by upright support elements 63 affixed to the frame of the machine.

For the purpose of advancing the blank such as that occupying the position designated at B2 toward the right as indicated by the arrow 64, a blank advancing element 65 is provided. rl`his blank advancing element 65 is pivoted on fixed pin 66 by virtue of an elongated slot 67 formed in the lower end of lblank advancing element 65. Advancing element 65 oscillates from left to right about the fixed pin 66 as a center and of course the upper blank engaging portion 68 simply engages the trailing edge of a blank such as B2 and moves the blank toward the right 4 sufficiently so as to provide clearance for .suction cups 45 so that the suction cups may perform a return operation to engage the lowermost blank B in the hopper 2.

In order to impart oscillatory motion to blank advancing element 65, an oscillatable element 69 is pivotally mounted at Xed pivot 70 which is aiixed to the frame structure 53 of the machine. Oscillatable element 69 is interrelated with the blank advancing element 65 by a pivotal connection 72. Oscillatable element 69 at its upper end is pivotally connected by a pin 74 to a link 75 which in turn is pivoted at 76 to a radially disposed crank 77 affixed to and rotatable with the shaft 58. Thus rotation of shaft 58 imparts clockwise rotation to crank 77 as viewed in FIG. 3. This to and fro oscillation to oscillatable member 69 about its fixed pivot 70 by virtue of the pivotal connection 72 between oscillatable element 69 and blank advancing element 65 causes the blank advancing ele. ment 65 to oscillate from left to right from the position depicted in FIG. 3 to a position toward the right so as to engage the trailing edge of blank such as B2 and to move the balnk to the right a suiiicient amount to allow suction cups 45 to move in a counterclockwise direction to a position of engagement with the lowermost blank B disposed within hopper 2. Of course the blank advancing motion of blank advancing element 65 is repetitive and continues in synchronism at high speed with respect to reciprocation of suction cup 45.

For the purpose of folding the side portions of the blanks such as B2 downwardly alongside the group of articles such as are designated at A, a folding mechanism is provided and such mechanism is designated in the drawings by the numeral 79. Folding element 79 is simply aixed to the link 75 so that rotation of crank 77 causes the blank folding arm 79 to move in a generally elliptical path as indicated approximately by the dotted path designated by the numeral 80 in FIG. 3. Of course the blanks B2 are constructed with apertures in their top panel to receive the necks of the articles A or if the articles A are in the form of iianged cans, the blanks are provided with corner slits which receive the corners of the cans so that once the side portions of the blanks are folded downwardly by the folding arms 79, the blanks become interrelated with and are movable with the articles A so that means for continuing the movement of the blank B2 toward the right are unnecessary once the folding operation has been performed.

From the above description it is apparent that both forms of the invention effectively advance the blank such as B1 or B2 by an increment of movement from left to right as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 by a distance sufficient to allow the suction cups to perform their return stroke. By this means extremely fast operation is achieved in a very compact arrangement. Furthermore, since the blanks are interrelated by the folding means with the article or articles to be packaged, it is not necessary to provide means for advancing the blanks throughout the packaging operation following disengagement between the blank such as B1 and B2 from the blank advancing means such as the elements 38 and 39 in FIG. l and the element 65 in FIGS. 3 and 4.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, the invention is not limited thereto and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modications of the invention as fall within the true spirit and scope thereof.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: l

1. A packaging machine comprising means for moving a plurality of articles to be packaged along a predetermined path, reciprocable feeder means engageable with a blank on a side thereof which is adjacent said predeter,- mined path and movable through a feeding stroke to move the blank in a direction toward the path of movement of the articles and to a position adjacent thereto, blank advancing means, means for mounting said blank advancing means for movement independent of and bodily relative to said feeder means for engaging the trailing edge of the blank at its position adjacent the path of movement of the articles to which the blank is moved by said feeder means for advancing the blank in the direction of movement of the articles, said blank advancing means having a blank engaging part movable in a direction generally transverse to the path of movement of said feeder means to engage and move the blank only for an increment of movement of the blank sufficient to move the blank out of the path of return movement of said reciprocable feeder means, and blank folding means engageable with parts of the blank on opposite sides of the path of movement of the article for folding such parts alongside one or more articles immediately following the increment of movement of the blank imparted thereto by said blank advancing means.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said blank advancing means and said blank folding means are rotatable about a common shaft constituting a common center of rotation.

3. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said blank advancing means comprises a plurality of integral radially extending advancing elements rotatably movable relative to said feeder means and in synchronism therewith about an axis which is transverse to the path of movement of the articles and to the direction of reciprocable movement of said feeder means.

4. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said blank advancing means comprises a pivotally mounted oscillatable advancing arm bodily movable relative to said feeder means in a direction generally transverse to the direction of movement of said feeder means and in Synchronism therewith.

5. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said blank folding means comprises a folding arm mounted on and movable with a part of said blank advancing means and movable bodily through a generally elliptical path of movement.

6. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said blank folding means comprises a folding arm mounted on and movable with an operating linkage arranged to impart operating movement to said blank advancing means.

7. A packaging machine comprising means for moving a plurality of articles to be packaged along a predetermined path, reciprocable feeder means engageable with a blank on a side thereof which is adjacent said predetermined path and movable through a feeding stroke to move the blank in a direction toward the path of movement of the articles and to a position adjacent thereto, and blank advancing means, means for mounting said blank advancing means for movement independent of and bodily relative to said feeder means for engaging the trailing edge of the blank at its position adjacent the path of movement of the articles for engaging and advancing the blank in the direction of movement of the articles, said yblank advancing means having a blank engaging part movable in a direction generally transverse to the path of movement of said feeder means to engage and move the blank only for an increment of movement of the blank sui'iicient to move the blank out of the path of return movement of said reciprocable feeder means.

8. A packaging machine comprising means for moving a plurality of articles to be packaged along a predetermined path, reciprocable feeder means engageable with a blank on a side thereof which is adjacent said predetermined path and movable through a feeding stroke to move the blank in a direction toward the path of movement of the articles and to a position adjacent thereto, blank advancing means for engaging the blank at its position adjacent the path of movement of the articles for engaging and advancing the blank in the direction of movement of the articles, said blank advancing means being in engagement with the blank only for an increment of movement of the blank sufficient to move the blank out of the path of return movement of said reciprocable feeder means, and blank folding means engageable with parts of the blank on opposite sides of the path of movement of the article for folding such parts alongside one or more articles immediately following the increment of movement of the blank imparted thereto by said blank advancing means, said blank advancing means and said blank folding means being integral and movable with each other.

9. A packaging machine comprising means for moving a plurality of articles to be packaged along a predetermined path, reciprocable feeder means engageable with a blank on a side thereof which is adjacent said predetermined path and movable through a feeding stroke to move the blank in a direction toward the path of movement of the articles and to a position adjacent thereto, blank advancing means having parts movable in different planes for engaging the blank at its position adjacent the path of movement of the articles for engaging and advancing the blank in the direction of movement of the articles, said blank advancing means being in engagement with the blank only for an increment of movement of the blank sufficient to move the blank out of the path of return movement of said reciprocable feeder means, and blank folding means engageable with parts of the blank on opposite sides of the path of movement of the article for folding such parts alongside one or more articles immediately following the increment of movement of the blank imparted thereto by said blank advancing means, said blank advancing means and said blank folding means being rotatable about a common center of rotation and said blank folding means comprising a plurality of folding arms disposed in the planes of movement of said radially extending advancing elements respectively and angularly disposed with respect thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,808,766 10/1957 Larsen 271-29 X 3,130,527 4/1964 Wood 53-186 X 3,303,631 2/1967 Ganz 53-48 3,367,086 2/1968 Ganz 53`48 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner R. L. SPRUILL, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

